


Tenacity

by Cloudnine101



Series: the lightning strike [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 01:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6265108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudnine101/pseuds/Cloudnine101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Barry looks beautiful in this light, as in any other.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tenacity

_1_

Harrison has a new name, now, as well as everything else. He supposes it's easier for them to think of him as this "Harry" than as himself.

Harrison isn't Harry, but he will pretend, because that is what's expected of him. He lies on his back on the couch in the room that is supposed to be his own, the room beside the lab, the back room. He'd been offered Barry's apartment and he'd declined. How he wishes he'd reflected more wisely; bad karma, Harrison muses, and laughs.

Barry turns over, slightly, and his hand skims across Harrison's chest. Harrison feels his breathing still. For a second, they're silent, save for the air conditioning and Barry's single, quavering exhalation.

Barry looks beautiful in this light, as in any other. Harrison knows this unequivocally, as he knows that Barry is funny and smart and clever. He knows this as he knows they will have breakfast together in the morning, and Barry will grin and parry and knock his knees underneath the table. He knows this as he knows that Barry will go to work and never speak of this - will never tell Cisco or Caitlin or even Detective West, who still hates Harrison, by the way, and when will Barry tell him he's not an evil megalomaniac?

_2_

Harrison doesn't want to betray Barry. He takes to calling him Allen, because it separates them - because that way, he can't be Harry, either. When Zoom came to him with an offer - Barry's speed for his daughter - Harrison couldn't refuse. Harrison made the right choice. Harrison chose wisely.

"So," Barry says, fiddling with the hem of his jumper, "as to your - ah - movie collection, I've got a suggestion."

Harrison lowers his chalk. "Yes."

Barry coughs. "I know it's a cartoon, but I can't believe you've never even heard of Finding Nemo. That's gotta be a thing on Earth 2."

Harrison wracks his brains, and finds, "There was something about seagulls."

Barry punches the air. "You _have_ seen it! Well, we're watching it again, if you're not too busy." That's just Barry's way - mixing courtesy with instruction. Come and jump off this cliff with me, if you would be so kind. And the thing is, Harrison would consider it. Barry's hand is on his elbow. 

Then, they've closed one of the breaches - one less pathway into Harrison's world. Sometimes, Harrison imagines he can see part of his own home through them. He'd like to tell Barry about that someday. Barry's sitting on the other side of the van, because he's driving. He's smiling, looking out of the window for a second, head tilted, and his lip quirks, and he is truly, exceptional, spectacular, everything that he says he isn't. He's not proud of himself; he's not proud of the hero he's becoming, not yet, because he doesn't see himself as one.

When Harry turns himself in, he has a moment to reflect on the stupidity of his actions.

_3_

Barry starts dressing like himself again. He slips out of Harrison's borrowed clothes. Harrison feels more than a pang of regret; no, his regret is tearing itself out of his chest. His regret wants to fly around the room and scream, "I was there. He loved me."

"What's wrong?" Barry's asking, from the far corner of the work bench, arms folded. "We're getting your daughter back. That's what you wanted."

Yes, it was, and it is. He needs Jesse. He loves Jesse. But he loves - he is capable of loving more than one person at a time. His capacity for affection is just as strong as Barry's, if not stronger, because it has been tested. He loved Jesse's mother, too. 

"I wish you could have seen me as I was." Harrison turns the slide over in his hands. "Charming. Confident. Brave."

"I was expecting a c-word," Barry jokes, and then continues, when Harrison can't force an appropriate reply, "Harry, I - "

"Let me finish."

Barry stills.

Harrison sighs. "I can't expect you to understand, but I wasn't always - this. On my Earth, you would have - liked to be around me. Not because of my personality, necessarily, but because I'd have made it that way. I'd have given you everything you'd ever wanted. We could have gone anywhere, done anything."

"You're an idiot," Barry tells him, staring, and Harrison shakes his head.

As Barry kisses him, Harrison is taken aback. He winds his hands around Barry's neck and holds him close, bends down his head so that their foreheads are touching. Barry is smiling slightly into his mouth. Harrison has no idea what to make of him, or any of it. Barry's gasp is muffled. Harrison runs a hand through his hair.


End file.
